Structure demolition apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for demolishing structures comprising a frame adapted to fit over or around a portion of the structure to be demolished and a plurality of cutting chisels which can be moved under hydraulic pressure to cause by a biting action severance of a piece of structure from the remainder.

[4 1 Dec. 12, 1972 1 5 ll .ll

Blackburn References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS APPARATUS 299/36 .m.....299/67 X 1,880,091 9/1932 Hughes.......... .......................299/67 [72] Inventor: Leonard John Blackburn, Fagley 2878 002 Cottage Fagley Bradfmd 113071009 6/1919 England Primary Examiner-Emest R. Purser Attorney-Abraham A. Saffitz [22] Filed: Dec. 28, 1970 211 Appl. No.: 101,690

ABSTRACT [52] U.S. Cl. ......................299/70, 241/262, 299/18,

299/86, 299/94 An apparatus for demolishing structures comprising a [51] Int. 27/30 frame adapted to fit over or around a portion of the [58] Field of Search 299/10, 15, 18, 36, 37, 67, structure to be demolished and a plurality of cutting 299/69, 70; 241/262, 263 chisels which can be moved under hydraulic pressure to cause by a biting action severance of a piece of structure from the remainder.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED H56 1 2 I972 SHEET 2 [1F 3 [All/ENTOQ LEONARD JOHN BLACKBURN P'A'mmmnmmz 3.705747 SHEET 3 BF 3 1H I/ENTO E LEONARD JOHN BLACKBURN a /W A 3%;

. I STRUCTURE DEMOLITION APPARATUS The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for, demolishing or dissembling structures including, buildings or roads having parts such as walls or layers of building materials for example of concrete or bricks and mortar or stone, with or without reinforcement.

Generally speaking, the demolition of such structures involved, because of the equipment or methods used, the production of a considerable amount of noise, much to the discomfort of persons in the locality of the demolition.

Also, some structures, because of their locality either in relation to surrounding buildings, or the ground upon which they stand, cannot be demolished by conventional equipment or by explosion, with the result that such structures must be demolished by operators using hand tools, a process which is tiresome to the operators and is expensive, in labor costs, to the party having the structure demolished.

With the present invention, I aim to provide a new approach to, method of, and apparatus for demolishing structures of building materials. The principle structures will be building walls, but as will be explained hereinafter, the invention can also be applied to ceilings, roofs, floors road carpets of concrete and tarmacadam, and concrete pillars and beams.

The method of the invention provides that the structure is demolished by having pieces removed therefrom by a means which is adapted to engage over or around the structure and apply a nipping or pinching force thereto to cause a cut or breakage in the structure.

The means will be moved relative to the structure after each cut is made and the cut pieces moved clear of the cutting means so that another piece of the structure can be removed and so on until the whole structure is demolished.

In the case where the invention is applied to a building wall, the means is moved round the top peripheral edge of the wall in steps removing a piece of the wall at each dwell period. Each piece may be transported away from the working area for subsequent treatment such as crushing.

If the structure is of concrete with metal reinforcing bars, crushing of the cut pieces would enable the metal to be reclaimed and the crushed concrete could be used as aggregate.

Also according to the invention there is provided apparatus for use in demolishing or dissembling structures comprising a frame which in section defines a U shape or an approximate U shape so that a section of the structure to be demolished can be located between the limbs, and cutting means carried by said frame which is adapted to be moved under power transversely of said limbs so as to cut off a piece of structure from the remainder of the structure.

Preferably, the cutting means is carried by one or more hydraulic jacks adapted to be supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure for moving said cutting means transversly of the limbs. Screw jacks may be an alternative but it is believed that hydraulic jacks will be more desireable.

The cutting means may comprise a plurality of chisels each being connected to its own hydraulic ram to be moved thereby.

The frame preferably defines a U sectioned open ended channel with the cutting means in the form of a plurality of chisels defining an L-shaped continuous cutting edge at the inside of each limb, the two cutting edges being in register so that they meet when the chisels are moved to cut a structure such as a wall located between the channel sides, each cutting edge extending along the free edge of each side section and towards the base of the channel housing at one end thereof.

The free ends of the side sections may be provided with entry guides to facilitate location of the channel housing over or around the structure to be demolished, and further location guides or holding means may be provided on the side sections to serve to locate or hold each piece of structure in position in the apparatus after it has been cut from the remainder of the structure.

In using the apparatus for demolishing say a cooling tower, the apparatus would preferably be suspended from a-crane or suspended or supported on a rail or track located above or below the wall periphery and would be capable of being treated to straddle the wall and perhaps rest thereon.

Each piece of the wall is removed simply by actuating the cutting means. As removal of pieces of the wall proceeds the apparatus is moved round the wall periphery.

The rail itself may be supported momentarily on the wall being demolished, and it may be constructed in sections which can be lowered individually, after each section has served its supporting function, to the appropriate position again to receive the apparatus after it has moved completely round the wall periphery.

In this way the wall is gradually demolished, or eaten away from the top downwards.

The invention is particularly suitable for the demolition of cooling towers as these structures have concrete walls of relatively small thickness in comparison to the height, and they are difficult and expensive to demolish, usually because they are required to be demolished by labor using hand tools due to their being located in close proximity with other structures. The pieces of wall removed according to the method could be suspended from a overhead rail by grab hooks, and passed along the rail to a suitable lowering station defined for example by a lift or pneumatic winch. The pieces may be passed directly to a crusher for recovery of the reinforcement such a crusher could be fairly simple because the pieces will be of a regular and substantially the same size.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. I is a side elevation of apparatus according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus shown in FIG. ll;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the cutting edge defined by the chisels of the apparatus at each side section of the apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating how the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 might be used in demolishing a wall; and

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating how the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 might be used for demolishing a road carpet.

It should be mentioned that the apparatus illustrated in the drawings and now to be described is a prototype apparatus and it is realized that future apparatus according to this invention may have to be altered as to size and shape to suit particular applications where weight and stress considerations may require modification of the design.

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is made up from five similar U shaped sub-frames l0, 12, 14, 16, and I8 constructed from I-sectioned rolled steel joists. The sub-frames I0, l2, l4, 16, are secured together by steel plates 20, 22, 24 and sub-frame 18 is secured to sub-frame 16 by channel bars 26. The apparatus is symmetrical about the vertical center line in FIG. 2.

The corners of sub-frames -18 are reinforced by channel bars 28 and the sub-frames are strengthened by strut plates 30 (FIG. 2)

Overhead rolled steel joists 32 and angle irons 34 assist in rigidifying the apparatus and interconnecting the sub-frames 10-18.

The apparatus therefore defines a U-sectioned open ended channel housing. I

Between and sectioned to the adjacent legs of the subframes at each side section of the housing are seven square sectioned tubular guides 36 disposed as shown in an L-shape with one leg of the L extending along the free edge of and one end edge of each side section of the housing.

Each of the guides 36 houses a double acting fluid pressure operated ram 38. The piston rod 40 is pivotally secured to its guide 36 so that when the ram is pressurized, the cylinder 42 is moved. Each cylinder 42 has a square guide plate 44 which slides in the associated guide 36 during movement of the cylinder 42 and serves to prevent rotation of the cylinder 42.

The cylinders 42 are adapted to be moved into the space between the housing side sections and each cylinder 42 at its inner end carries a chisel 46. The chisels 46 are identical apart from the corner chisel 46 (see FIG. 3) at each side of the housing.

Each chisel 46 comprises a bevelled cutting plate 48 which is hardened by heat treatment and which is held between inclined mounting plates 50. The plates 50 are supported by bracing plates 52. The plates 50 and 52 define a socket of square truncated form into which fits a corresponding plug 54 secured to the associated cylinder 42. The plug 54 is secured to the chisel 46 by a pin 56, which passes through apertures in plates 52 and socket 54.

Each corner chisel 46A (see FIG. 3) is connected to its associated cylinder 42 in the same manner as each chisel 46 is connected to cylinder 42. The corner chisel has a cutting blade defining a right angle.

FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of chisels 46, 46A at the inside of each side section of the housing and it will be seen that the cutting blades define a continuous L shaped cutting edge. As the apparatus is symmetrical the two cutting edges are in register and meet when the two sets of chisels are moved inwards by the distance S in FIG. 2.

The basic principle of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 3. In this figure W represents a concrete wall which may have metal reinforcement therein. The top of the wall is indicated at T and the apparatus is set to cut from the wall the generally square section Y indicated in section lines. The area X indicates the space taken up by a previously removed piece of the wall. After removal of section W, the apparatus is simply moved along the remaining wall in the direction of arrow 2.

The apparatus illustrated is for removing one yard square pieces of structure and in tests with the apparatus the chisels 46, 46A cut cleanly through an 8 inch concrete wall having two spaced meshes of inch steel reinforcing bars, with very little noise at a fluid pressure of 3000 p.s.i. With the rams used this gave a cutting force of 138 tons.

Some of the steel bars were broken as a result of tensile forces therein whilst others which slipped relative to the concrete in which they were embedded were snipped by shearing action. Because some reinforcement may have to be snipped by shearing it is an advantage to have the cutting edges continuous.

The rams are connected in parallel to be moved into the housing or retracted therefrom simultaneously but in a refined version of the apparatus the rams may be arranged for sequence operation.

It will be appreciated that the embodiment of the invention described provides a simple apparatus which can be used for demolishing a structure by removing one piece at a time.

FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically how the apparatus may be used in a contract for the demolition of a wall. A mobile crane has the described apparatus represented by numeral 62 suspended from the crane boom 64. The fluid under pressure is supplied from a power unit comprising a petrol engine 66 which is drivingly connected to a hydraulic pump 68 which supplies the fluid to the rams through a filter 69 and a multi position valve 70. The valve can be positioned by manipulation of handle 72 to cause the chisel to be moved inwards to effect the cut, to cause the chisels to retract or to cause the chisels to remain in any intermediate position. The hydraulic fluid supply and return lines are indicated at 74, 76 and these distribute the hydraulic fluid to the rams by the hydraulic circuiting indicated at 78 in FIG. 1.

Modifications of the described apparatus are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, for example, it may be desirable, where the apparatus is to be lifted to a considerable height to perform its operation, to construct the apparatus in sections which can be releasably connected together at the working area. Such an arrangement would facilitate handling and transportation. In another modification instead of having movable sets of rams and chisels at each side of the housing, there may be provided a movable set of chisels at one side only of the housing, the other side simply having a set of fixed chisel against which the cutting edge defined by the movable chisels bears after the cut has been performed. In the arrangement described the cylinders of the rarns move whilst the pistons remain stationary. It would be a simple matter to arrange for the pistons to move instead of the cylinders.

A substantial advantage of the embodiment of this invention is that in cutting off pieces of structure does not involve the production of noise at an annoying level. Rather, testing the apparatus in cutting one yard square pieces from an 8 inch wall with it: inch bars of metal reinforcement has shown that the apparatus is very quiet in operation. The apparatus would appear to provide a method of demolition which is much safer than the methods at present used That is, it requires no explosive or swinging hammer. It is envisaged that this method will also be much quicker than the known methods, perhaps with the exception of explosion, but explosion is not always, and in fact is very rarely acceptable in the interests of safety.

The invention can be applied to the breaking up of a structure in the form of a road carpet of concrete or tarmacadam. In this case the apparatus is supported on its side engaging below and above the carpet and as a road vehicle carrying the apparatus advances, so the chisels are operated eating away the road carpet. FIG. 5 shows an arrangement which might be used for demolishing a road carpet C. The apparatus 62 is supported on the front of a crawler tractor vehicle. A chain excavator B serves to remove the sub soil under the carpet to enable the apparatus to engage around the carpet prior to each cut.

The invention can further be applied to the demolition of a concrete pillar and in such cases a large thimble hood provided with hydraulically operated pincing jaws at the skirt thereof would be positioned, for example, by a crane, such that the hood would be located over the top of the pillar and the top portion pinced off by the jaws. After the top portion is removed the process is repeated until the whole column has been demolished.

lclaim:

1. Apparatus for use in demolishing structures com-- prising a frame which in section defines a U shape so that a portion of the structure to be demolished can be located between the limbs of the said section, a plurality of cutting chisels and a plurality of hydraulic jacks carried by said frame and each carrying its own one of said chisels, said hydraulic jacks being adapted to be supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure for moving said chisels under power transversely of said limbs so as to cut off a piece of structure from the remainder of the structure.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the frame defines a U sectioned open ended channel with the plurality of chisels defining an L-shaped continuous cutting edge at the inside of each limb, the two cutting edges being in register so that they meet when the chisels are moved to cut a structure such as a wall located between the channel sides, each cutting edge extending along the free edgeof each said section and towards the base of the channel housing at one end thereof.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the free ends of the side sections are provided with entry guides to facilitate location of the channel housing over or around the structure to be demolished.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3 including location guides between the side sections of the housing to locate each piece of structure at a desired disposition in the apparatus after it has been cut from the remainder of the structure. 

1. Apparatus for use in demolishing structures comprising a frame which in section defines a U shape so that a portion of the structure to be demolished can be located between the limbs of the said section, a plurality of cutting chisels and a plurality of hydraulic jacks carried by said frame and each carrying its own one of said chisels, said hydraulic jacks being adapted to be supplied with hydraulic fluid under pressure for moving said chisels under power transversely of said limbs so as to cut off a piece of structure from the remainder of the structure.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the frame defines a U sectioned open ended channel with the plurality of chisels defining an L-shaped continuouS cutting edge at the inside of each limb, the two cutting edges being in register so that they meet when the chisels are moved to cut a structure such as a wall located between the channel sides, each cutting edge extending along the free edge of each said section and towards the base of the channel housing at one end thereof.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the free ends of the side sections are provided with entry guides to facilitate location of the channel housing over or around the structure to be demolished.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 3 including location guides between the side sections of the housing to locate each piece of structure at a desired disposition in the apparatus after it has been cut from the remainder of the structure. 